Saturday, 09 February 2013

Sunderland v Arsenal: Can the Gunners tame the Black Cats?

Arsenal made ground on their top four rivals last weekend thanks to their narrow 1-0 win over Stoke at the Emirates and with 13 games left to play Arsene Wenger knows he can not afford any costly mistakes.

Today the Gunners head to Wearside to face a Sunderland side that also makes it hard for Arsenal.

The Black Cats held Arsenal to a draw on the opening day of the season and the Gunners needed an injury time winner from club legend Thierry Henry to take all three points back to the Emirates. Seven days later though Martin O'Neill's men exacted revenge by dumping Arsenal out of the FA Cup.

Arsenal have only won four of their previous 11 Premier League meetings at Sunderland so Arsene Wenger will have to ensure his players are switched on from the first whistle.

Sunderland have not had the greatest of seasons but they have shown life in recent months. Five wins out of 10 is nothing to be sniffed at and only Spurs, Chelsea, West Brom and Aston Villa have left the SOL with maximum points.

Arsenal have only failed to take something from Carrow Road, Old Trafford and Stamford Bridge this season and with Jack Wilshere earning rave reviews for his display against Brazil, they will be confident of getting a result. But will they leave with all three points?

Sunderland v Arsenal; Kick Off 3pm February 9 2013

Prediction Panel

Arsenal

Josh Ben Moshe

0

V

4

Aston Villa

Frank Pattison

1

V

2

Chelsea

Apoorva Ankur

1

V

3

Everton

Chris Goodwin

1

V

2

Fulham

Neil Springate

1

V

2

Liverpool

Dave Disciascio

0

V

3

Man City

Callum Rothwell

1

V

3

Man United

Peter Johnstone

1

V

2

Newcastle

Greg Hall

1

V

1

Norwich

Sue Read

2

V

2

QPR

John Jaycock

TBA

V

TBA

Reading

Jon Keen

1

V

2

Southampton

Andy Saunders

2

V

1

Stoke City

Peter Holland

2

V

1

Sunderland

Tony Ratton

1

V

1

Swansea

Jim Barry

1

V

1

Spurs

Adam Crawford

TBA

V

TBA

West Brom

Andy Wakeman

2

V

2

West Ham

Matt Beeby

1

V

1

Wigan

Jimmy Shine

1

V

1

OUR EXPERTS

Writer

Colin Illingworth

1

V

3

Writer

Steve Coulter

0

V

0

Writer

Hugh Larkin

1

V

1

Writer

Mitch Waddon

1

V

1

Writer

Chris Pettitt

0

V

1

Writer

Sarshar Hosseinnia

1

V

0

Blackburn fan

Terry Kennedy

1

V

2

Bolton fan

David Blackburn

1

V

2

Boro fan

Sue Gardener

2

V

0

Pompey fan

Dan Taylor

2

V

2

Pompey fan

Peter Rendle

TBA

V

TBA

West Ham fan

Nigel Telfer

0

V

1

Wolves fan

Chris Cox

2

V

1

Editor

Antony Melvin

1

V

2

Panel Verdict

Away win.

Home: 6; Draw: 10; Away: 15. TBA 3.

* Do we have it right or do you know better? We’d
love to hear from you.

We also have a community on Google+. Come and join us at Squarefootball and get involved!

Comments

Sunderland v Arsenal: Can the Gunners tame the Black Cats?

Arsenal made ground on their top four rivals last weekend thanks to their narrow 1-0 win over Stoke at the Emirates and with 13 games left to play Arsene Wenger knows he can not afford any costly mistakes.

Today the Gunners head to Wearside to face a Sunderland side that also makes it hard for Arsenal.

The Black Cats held Arsenal to a draw on the opening day of the season and the Gunners needed an injury time winner from club legend Thierry Henry to take all three points back to the Emirates. Seven days later though Martin O'Neill's men exacted revenge by dumping Arsenal out of the FA Cup.

Arsenal have only won four of their previous 11 Premier League meetings at Sunderland so Arsene Wenger will have to ensure his players are switched on from the first whistle.

Sunderland have not had the greatest of seasons but they have shown life in recent months. Five wins out of 10 is nothing to be sniffed at and only Spurs, Chelsea, West Brom and Aston Villa have left the SOL with maximum points.

Arsenal have only failed to take something from Carrow Road, Old Trafford and Stamford Bridge this season and with Jack Wilshere earning rave reviews for his display against Brazil, they will be confident of getting a result. But will they leave with all three points?

Sunderland v Arsenal; Kick Off 3pm February 9 2013

Prediction Panel

Arsenal

Josh Ben Moshe

0

V

4

Aston Villa

Frank Pattison

1

V

2

Chelsea

Apoorva Ankur

1

V

3

Everton

Chris Goodwin

1

V

2

Fulham

Neil Springate

1

V

2

Liverpool

Dave Disciascio

0

V

3

Man City

Callum Rothwell

1

V

3

Man United

Peter Johnstone

1

V

2

Newcastle

Greg Hall

1

V

1

Norwich

Sue Read

2

V

2

QPR

John Jaycock

TBA

V

TBA

Reading

Jon Keen

1

V

2

Southampton

Andy Saunders

2

V

1

Stoke City

Peter Holland

2

V

1

Sunderland

Tony Ratton

1

V

1

Swansea

Jim Barry

1

V

1

Spurs

Adam Crawford

TBA

V

TBA

West Brom

Andy Wakeman

2

V

2

West Ham

Matt Beeby

1

V

1

Wigan

Jimmy Shine

1

V

1

OUR EXPERTS

Writer

Colin Illingworth

1

V

3

Writer

Steve Coulter

0

V

0

Writer

Hugh Larkin

1

V

1

Writer

Mitch Waddon

1

V

1

Writer

Chris Pettitt

0

V

1

Writer

Sarshar Hosseinnia

1

V

0

Blackburn fan

Terry Kennedy

1

V

2

Bolton fan

David Blackburn

1

V

2

Boro fan

Sue Gardener

2

V

0

Pompey fan

Dan Taylor

2

V

2

Pompey fan

Peter Rendle

TBA

V

TBA

West Ham fan

Nigel Telfer

0

V

1

Wolves fan

Chris Cox

2

V

1

Editor

Antony Melvin

1

V

2

Panel Verdict

Away win.

Home: 6; Draw: 10; Away: 15. TBA 3.

* Do we have it right or do you know better? We’d
love to hear from you.

We also have a community on Google+. Come and join us at Squarefootball and get involved!